It was totally unnatural for the milk cows to leave their
calves behind and stay on the road to a place they had never been, yet that is
exactly what the two pulling the cart with the Ark had done. When the Israelites saw the Ark, they were
thrilled, as we see in I Samuel 6:13-15.
“And they of Bethshemesh were
reaping their wheat harvest in the valley: and they lifted up their eyes, and
saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it. And
the cart came into the field of Joshua, a Bethshemite, and stood there, where
there was a great stone: and they clave the wood of the cart, and offered the
kine a burnt offering unto the LORD. And
the Levites took down the ark of the LORD, and the coffer that was with it,
wherein the jewels of gold were, and put them on the great stone: and the men
of Bethshemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices the same day
unto the LORD.”
Some of the local Levites placed the Ark on large flat
rock. They broke up the cart and killed
the two cows as a sacrifice thanking God for the return of the Ark. Having seen all this, the Philistine leaders
were convinced That the plague had come from God and they had made the right
choice in returning it and sending a trespass offering for each of the
Philistine cities with it, as I Samuel 6:16-18 describes. “And
when the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the
same day. And these are the golden
emerods which the Philistines returned for a trespass offering unto the LORD;
for Ashdod one, for Gaza one, for Askelon one, for Gath one, for Ekron one; And the golden mice, according to the number
of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both of
fenced cities, and of country villages, even unto the great stone of Abel,
whereon they set down the ark of the LORD: which stone remaineth unto this day
in the field of Joshua, the Bethshemite.”
The celebration in Bethshemesh was short lived,
however. Although God had caused the to
milk cows to bring the Ark to them without a driver, and the Philistines had
sent a significant amount of Gold with it, the Israelites were afraid God had
not protected it and the Philistines might have removed something from it, so they
opened it up to see what was inside.
God had designated the Kohath Levites to carry the various
items used in worship in the tabernacle, but they were never to touch anything
other than the poles for carrying them, as we see in Numbers 4:15. “And
when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the
vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is to set forward; after that, the sons
of Kohath shall come to bear it: but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest
they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle
of the congregation.” In fact, they
were not even to be present until the various items were wrapped in their protective
covers and could not be seen, according to Numbers 4:19-20. “But
thus do unto them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach unto the
most holy things: Aaron and his sons shall go in, and appoint them every one to
his service and to his burden: But they shall not go in to see when the holy
things are covered, lest they die.”
Not trusting God to take care of his own things, the people
of Bethshemesh ignored the warning and looked inside. It had horrible consequences, as I Samuel
6:19 tells us. “And he smote the men of Bethshemesh, because they had looked into the
ark of the LORD, even he smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and
ten men: and the people lamented, because the LORD had smitten many of the
people with a great slaughter.” Romans 14:23 warns, “…whatsoever is not of faith is sin,” and sin nearly always leads
to more sin.
Terrified by the results of their disobedience, they sent
the Ark to Kirjathjearim, in I Samuel 6:20-7:2. “And
the men of Bethshemesh said, Who is able to stand before this holy LORD God?
and to whom shall he go up from us? And
they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjathjearim, saying, The
Philistines have brought again the ark of the LORD; come ye down, and fetch it
up to you. And the men of Kirjathjearim came, and fetched
up the ark of the LORD, and brought it into the house of Abinadab in the hill,
and sanctified Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the LORD. And it came to pass, while the ark abode in
Kirjathjearim, that the time was long; for it was twenty years: and all the
house of Israel lamented after the LORD.”
It would be twenty years before Samuel was old enough to officially
take the leadership and fully restore their worship of God. The priests and the Tabernacle were still at
Shiloh, but without the Ark and the Mercy seat, they could not offer the
atonement or certain other sacrifices.
Since they had not moved the Tabernacle in about five hundred years,
they were no longer sure how it was to be transported, and were afraid of
breaking the rules. The Ark would remain
in Kirjathjearim until after David became king, almost a hundred years after it
was returned.
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